The General and the Bunny
by LadyAlambiel
Summary: An unexpected duty for the General involves one little Bunny. Tie-in with Poppy by WillowDryad. NOT part of ALitD universe canon. A gift fic for WillowDryad.


Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't...

Summary: An unexpected duty for the General involves one little Bunny. A gift fic for WillowDryad.

A/N: This one-shot is a gift fic for WillowDryad and is a companion piece to her story _Poppy_ wherein a tiny Bunny has conquered both Kings and the General already. Katerina Alambiel is the OC from my _A Light in the Darkness_ universe, but this story is not part of the ALitD canon. Enjoy!

**The General and the Bunny**

Oreius gazed down at the tiny ball of fluff resting in the middle of his broad hand. He doubted this was a good idea. He intended to inform the High King of just that, but the colt had already vanished from the room. The Centaur sighed as he looked back down and met Poppy's enormous brown eyes. Clearing his throat, the General offered a silent plea to Aslan that she would not require anything too...unusual of him. "So, young Poppy, it seems we are to spend some time together."

The little Bunny nodded, nose twitching, before she asked in a tiny voice, "Is King Peter coming back, Mr. Oreius?"

Oreius' expression softened, "Yes, Small One, the High King will be back before long." A hint of tears appeared in those big brown eyes and he hurried to divert the Bunny's attention, "What would you like to do, Poppy?"

Her nose quivered as her tiny furry brow wrinkled in thought, "With King Peter or with you?"

"With me."

Her eyes widened then she crept closer to his wrist and whispered, "Can you tell a story, Mr. Oreius?"

He arched an eyebrow, "A story?"

Poppy nodded, "I wanna hear a story!"

Oreius gently pet her as he sorted through the various stories he knew, attempting to find ones that were suitable to a little one as sensitive as Poppy. Frowning slightly, he wondered if he should not resort to the tactic his lady oft used when she regaled whichever little ones had flocked to her with grand tales. "You wish to hear a story, Small One?"

The Bunny nodded vigorously, "Please, Mr. Oreius! Pleeeeeeeeeeease!"

Oreius smiled faintly before he gave a curt nod, "Very well. Once, not so very long ago, but several Springs before you were born, there lived two brothers, one dark as night and the other fair as the sun. Some might say their natures were too different for them to be good brothers, but they would be wrong. Their differences made them stronger as brothers." He paused for only a moment as he recalled King Edmund's comment yesterday about mentioning the High King's name causing naught but grief for Poppy and guilt for King Edmund when the colt attempted to distract her with a story. "Now these brothers were known as How and Wolfsbane, they cared for their sisters also two in number and their sisters would scold them for playing too rough inside or sneaking treats in the middle of the night or playing pranks."

Poppy giggled as Oreius continued, "One spring day, How decided to have fun by playing another prank on his sisters and he talked Wolfsbane into helping him. The brothers spent the whole day setting up their prank as their sisters were out riding with a close friend of theirs and then they waited for their sisters to return home. When their sisters returned, they screamed in surprise as the brothers' prank caught them and they were covered in mud and sugar."

Poppy giggled again, "The brothers were bad. Did their sisters get them, Mr. Oreius? They should!"

Oreius nodded solemnly, "Indeed they did. How and Wolfsbane were quite proud of themselves for playing a prank their sisters. However, they spent so much time laughing and joking about their sisters' reactions that they forgot one very important thing."

Poppy's eyes grew wide, "What? What did they forget?"

Oreius barely hid his smile as he leaned forward and raised Poppy a little higher as he whispered, "They forgot about the friend their sisters had gone riding with who had also witnessed the prank played by the brothers." Poppy's eyes somehow managed to widen further and she quivered in his hand as he resumed his normal tone, "Now, this friend was a lady who was as beautiful as she was clever and she was very, very clever. She also knew exactly how the sisters should get How and Wolfsbane back. The lady and the sisters waited until it was very late so that How and Wolfsbane were fast asleep. Then, they slipped into the room the brothers shared and set up their prank for the sleeping brothers before they slipped away again and waited for How and Wolfsbane to wake. When the brothers woke, they didn't realize at first that a prank had been played on them. And then they looked in the mirror."

Poppy's ears twitched as she gazed up at him, "What did they see? What did they see, Mr. Oreius? Whaaaat?"

"They saw themselves, but it was not a sight they were used to seeing in the mirror. The lady and their sisters had chosen to prank the brothers by changing their hair color to a very bright blue and then they threaded daises and roses into their hair as well. The brothers conceded the battle of pranks to their sisters and the lady."

The tiny Bunny giggled, "Oh that was a good story, Mr. Oreius! Can you tell another one?" Oreius didn't get the chance to answer as Poppy suddenly crouched in his hand and peeked at the door, "Who's that?"

Oreius looked up and shuffled his hooves as he realized just who he had heard enter the room. It most certainly wasn't the High King. He cleared his throat, "Poppy, this is Katerina Alambiel. She is a friend of the Kings and Queens...and my lady."

Alambiel gave him an amused look before smiling at Poppy, "I'm delighted to meet you, Poppy. I've heard a lot about you."

Poppy peeped over his hand at where Alambiel was still standing just to the side of the door, "Me?"

Alambiel shifted slightly as she brushed at her skirts, "Yes, Peter and Edmund were quite eager to tell me about the sweet little Bunny who's now living in the Cair. They said her name was Poppy and Peter usually carries her in his shirt."

Poppy gasped, "I'm Poppy! King Peter carries me in his shirt! He told you about me!" Oreius lowered Poppy to the long table and crossed his arms over his bare chest as he watched Poppy hop cautiously toward Alambiel who still hadn't moved, instead allowing the little Bunny to close the distance between them. Poppy paused and her little nose wriggled, "You smell like cinnamon! Why did King Peter tell you about me?"

"Because he is very fond of you and he wanted me to know who you are and why you're important to him."

Poppy giggled, "I like King Peter too! Do you like King Peter?"

Alambiel nodded, "Oh yes. In fact, he and Edmund and the girls usually just call me 'Kat' since it's shorter than saying Katerina Alambiel all the time."

A simple enough statement, but Poppy immediately brightened as her shyness seemed to melt away, "How come Mr. Oreius says you're his lady?"

Oreius shuffled his hooves again as Alambiel slanted him a mischievous smile, "Well, because I am, and that's pretty much all he can call me since we're not officially betrothed yet."

Poppy blinked her big eyes at Alambiel, "Oh. Do you like Mr. Oreius, Kat?"

Alambiel laughed softly, "Oh yes, very much."

Poppy giggled again then she looked back at him, "Do you like Kat, Mr. Oreius?"

He looked from the Bunny to Alambiel and gave a curt nod before he moved around the table and took Alambiel's hand. She smiled at him and then Poppy giggled as he kissed Alambiel's hand, "I like her very much."

"Are you going to marry her, Mr. Oreius? Can I be in the wedding? I wanna eat the flowers." The High King returned before Oreius could answer. Poppy gasped in delight, "King Peter! King Peter! Look, this is Kat. She's Mr. Oreius' lady. She's pretty. Did you miss me? Can we have carrots and lettuce with our tea?"

King Peter chuckled, "Of course, I missed you, Poppy. And, yes, we can have carrots and lettuce with our tea."

He scooped her up and cuddled the Bunny against his chest. But, she peeped over his shoulder at where Oreius still stood with Alambiel, "Aren't you coming too?"

Oreius looked down at Alambiel. The amused glint in her blue eyes told him she knew what had been happening since Poppy arrived at the Cair. "Well, we were going to-"

"Please. I want you both to have tea with us."

Poppy blinked at him and he gave a slight bow, "We would be delighted to have tea with you."

Alambiel laughed softly as she accepted the arm he offered, "They were right. Pushover."

Oreius smirked as they trailed after King Peter and Poppy, "Only sometimes."

**A/N: Please Read and Review! So, Poppy gave me the Eyes and I had to write this little story with her and Oreius and Kat. Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one. Don't forget to read more about Poppy in WillowDryad's _Poppy_. She'll steal your heart.**


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